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Sweet Bird of Youth

Full-Length Play, Drama  /  7w, 15m

"Once again a bolt of thunder has been hurled by that Jovian playwright, Tennessee Williams, and the theatre reverberates to its roar." — NY Newsday

  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    7w, 15m
  • Duration
    Duration
    More than 120 minutes (2 hours)
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult

Details

Summary
As New York Newsday describes: "Its two central characters are the Princess, an aging motion picture actress in flight from her latest screen disaster, and Chance Wayne, a young hustler whom she has picked up. Taking advantage of her drunkenness and his youth and good looks, he manages to lure her to the Southern town of his birth in order to see again a young girl with whom he has had an affair and whom he still loves. Word of his arrival spreads like contagion through the small town. Boss Finley, a political despot and father of the young girl, is especially interested. What Chance does not know is that unwittingly he has infected the girl and ever since the Boss, his sadistic son and his toadies have lain in wait for his return and for their revenge. Chance's scheme is to use the Princess to promote a motion picture career for himself and his girl. Naturally this falls afoul and in the end the avengers are about to close in on the passively waiting Chance, who has been deserted by his patroness and far worse, by his youth."
History

Sweet Bird of Youth premiered at the Martin Beck Theater in New York City in March 1959 under the direction of Elia Kazan.

Keywords
CHANCE WAYNE
THE PRICNESS KOSMONOPOLIS
FLY
MAID
GEORGE SCUDDER
HATCHER
BOSS FINLEY
TOM JUNIOR
AUNT NONNIE
HEAVENLY FINLEY
CHARLES
STUFF
MISS LUCY
THE HECKLER
VIOLET
EDNA
SCOTTY
BUD
MEN IN BAR
PAGE
  • Duration More than 120 minutes (2 hours)

Media

REVIEWS

"Once again a bolt of thunder has been hurled by that Jovian playwright, Tennessee Williams, and the theatre reverberates to its roar. —NY Newsday

"Tennessee Williams recently said something about getting tired of delivering blockbusters to Broadway, but he has certainly provided one in Sweet Bird of Youth…written with enormous dramatic drive…it is a play of overwhelming force." —NY Post

"Despite the acrid nature of its material, Sweet Bird of Youth is Mr. Williams in a relaxed mood as a writer…Sweet Bird of Youth is one of his finest dramas." —The New York Times

ON BREAKING CHARACTER10 Tennessee Williams Plays to Perform

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: £70 per performance plus VAT when applicable.
    This title may have restrictions in place for London based productions. Please submit a licence request to confirm specific availability.

Scripts

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Authors

Tennessee Williams

Tennessee Williams (1911-1983) explored passion with daring honesty and forged a poetic theatre of raw psychological insight that shattered conventional proprieties and transformed the American stage. The autobiographical The Glass Menagerie brought what Mr. Williams called “ ...
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